The Immigration Debate Poses a Real Economic Threat to the Roofing Industry

RCS Influencer Rudy Gutierrez says that extending deferred action and expanding guest worker programs will make a real difference in the immigration debate.

The best possible outcome to the immigration debate would be comprehensive immigration reform that allows for the expansion of the guest worker program and provides an opportunity for undocumented immigrants to apply for work permits.

According to the economic summaries presented at The World of Concrete conference; based on the current market conditions, there 1.0M jobs available across the United States in the areas of construction. Current unemployment level is at 4.3% and GDP is at 5%. If unemployment drops below 4% our industry will be challenged to keep up with market demand. This poses a real economic threat to the roofing industry.

Extending deferred action to undocumented immigrants will allow them to work legally and apply for jobs across the labor market. Expanding the guest worker programs will allow the industry to fill the needs of short-term employment and reduce the labor force challenges in an already impacted construction industry.

In terms of what is best for SHELL Roofing? We don’t hire undocumented workers. We E-verify so that we don’t have these challenges.  The challenges that we face is not having skilled people to hire.

Rudy Gutierrez is president and CEO of Shell Roofing Solutions. See his full bio here.